Pentagon request for travel services kicks off DTS consolidation

A Pentagon plan to consolidate all travel agency contracts under one roof rankles some travel agency officials, who say the requirements are too stiff and the time frame for bidding is too short. The request for proposals issued recently is the next phase in the migration of the Defense Department's travel agency services to the Defense Travel System.

The solicitation will award multiple indefinite-delivery and indefinite-quantity contracts to a select number of companies that have the ability to perform 180,000 annual ticket transactions. The solicitation will encompass all Defense Department travel agency business worldwide except for the contracts in the DTS small business competition.

The minimum value of the new contract will be $15 million over 5 years.

Similar to GSA's eTravel service, companies that receive contracts will be able to compete for the Defense agencies' travel management services, but unlike the other system, all travel agencies that receive contract awards will be able to compete for future travel task orders.

Peggy Butler, senior contracting officer for DTS acquisitions' arm, the Information Technology E-Commerce Commercial Contract Center, said the 180,000 minimum annual transactions applies to the range the companies need to focus on when preparing their technical approach for the proposal evaluation process.

"We're asking for performance information…we're not asking for time frame. We're only asking for technical capability, performance risk, corporate experience and management approach," Butler said.

While it has yet to be determined, experts in the travel industry said as many as ten travel agencies could be approved under the contract based on companies' known capabilities.

"We're going to be evaluating proposals and then make selections of the offers that provide the best strategy," said Peggy Butler, senior contracting officer for DTS acquisitions. "You have many qualified small and large businesses. You could be talking up to 30 vendors."

The ultimate goal, said Butler, is to reduce overall management costs. "When you go out with a larger travel volume, your prices will be lower. It's not only going to reap savings to [the Defense Department] in administration costs, but also in travel service fees."

Kevin McElroy, president of CI Travel in Norfolk, Va., said he is concerned because there seems to be a narrowing of the competition.

"There's too strict a requirement volume-wise, and that unnecessarily narrows the range of competitive bidders," McElroy said. "I'm also concerned that the time frame is short."

Marc Stec, vice president for contracts and proposals at Navigant Sato Travel, said the move is overdue in terms of trying to migrate to the DTS.

"Having all this business up at one time in [the Defense Department] is certainly a big issue," said Stec, who also is president of the Society of Government Travel Professionals. "Right now, that clock is running. It used to be you always had 30 days to respond to bids."

Alvin Chisik, president of the Topanga, Calif.-based Merritt Chisik Management Consulting, said that there are many questions that need to be answered regarding the contract's specifications.

"There are some areas of confusion," Chisik said. "There are a lot of questions and there is little time to get them answered and for them to generate a substantial response."